The area of South Yorkshire / North Lincolnshire is a great half-way meeting area for days out with my Mum. Living in the past in mid-south Lincolnshire it’s an area that we hadn’t really explored. I was recently recommended Cusworth hall Museum and park for a day out. Mostly as it is free and also because it’s a nice place to spend a few hours. It is just a short drive away from the centre of Doncaster and you get great views of the town from the top of the hill.
Cusworth Hall is run and maintained by Doncaster council. It is a Grade 1 listed building set in acres of beautiful parkland. The Hall has had some recent work done to transform it into a museum documenting Doncaster’s social history. This reflects life for people in Doncaster from the 18th Century up until the present day.
This was day 24 of our #80dayschallenge to have at least 80 days out in one year.
Review of Cusworth Hall Museum and Park
The Grounds
We arrived around 10:30 am to meet my Mum. We had to pay to park in their official car park. Although I do believe you can park in the local village for free and walk up to the hall from there. The hall was not open as per opening times on the website. We were informed by some people outside the cafe that it would be open at 11 am and their opening times can be quite ‘casual’.
Parking charges are: Up to 1 hour: £1.50. Up to 3 hours: £3 and all day: £6. We paid for all day.
As we were unwittingly early we decided to walk down to the lake and back up again. If you head down the left side you walk through some pretty formal gardens. No bikes or dogs off leads are allowed in this area. You can take bikes and dogs around most of the grounds of the park although you are asked to keep your dog on a lead and of course clean up their mess. Dogs are not allowed inside the hall/museum.
It is quite a steep hill but there is a decent path on this side of the parkland. It is accessible for wheelchairs and buggies. If you have forgotten to bring some geese and duck food please make sure you purchase a bag from their shop. There are plenty of ducks waiting to be fed down by the pond.
Later on in the day we also had a pleasant walk around the other lake. It’s very pretty and worth a walk or a cycle around.
Playground at Cusworth Hall
There is a relatively large playground at Cusworth. It is located next to the car park. There is equipment for toddlers up to older children. Even teenagers would find things to go on here. They have a few benches for parents to sit on.
Exploring the Museum at Cusworth Hall
When the museum did open we were then free to enter and wander around. You enter via the shop and we were given a brief rundown of what there is in the museum. The museum covers three floors. There is a lift for access. As mentioned above the museum covers aspects of life in Doncaster from the 18th Century up until the modern day.
There are plenty of rooms with interesting exhibits and a lot of them have interactive displays. Most of which have children in mind. That said some of the exhibits are quite complicated especially some that you had to break a series of codes. You could spend a long time in the museum.
We found dress up in one of the rooms, toys for younger children in another and much more. As well as the ground floor and the floor above there was also a basement floor. This took you down to rooms housing the old kitchens and work rooms which were interesting to see.
We spent around four hours at the hall’s museum, grounds and cafe. It made a pleasant change to our normal days out and virtually cheap is always good by me.
Important Information
You are welcome to take a picnic to Cusworth Hall. If you are looking for food made for you then we can recommend Butlers Tea Room & Bistro. It’s in a very quaint couple of rooms with further seating outside. We had some delicious hot and cold food plus they do a good range of hot and cold drinks.
You can visit the grounds every day of the week. Opening and closing times of the gates vary so please check their website before you leave home. The hall is closed on Thursdays and Fridays. It also has different opening times during the week and weekends.
As mentioned above the hall and grounds are free to visit. If you are using their car park to park in you will need to pay and display.
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